The Author’s Handbook: Trial Reels

Feb 16

Have you ever seen a reel that says, “Please engage — this is a trial reel,” and thought…what on earth is that?

Well, girl, I’m here to fix that! Because right now trial reels might be one of the most underused growth tools for indie authors when they should be part of every author’s strategy.

Hello! I’m Hannah Beth. I am an indie author of flirty not dirty romances, who believes books don’t need spice 🌶️ to be romantic (heart emoji) Most days you will find me sipping tea and writing, reading, or talking musical productions (passionately) with my family. The Author’s Handbook is a collection of blog posts designed to help you with all your baby steps as an author, whether you’re Indie, Traditionally published, or a hybrid. Let’s begin!!!

Alright. With that out of the way, let’s start with the BIG and obvious question first…⬇⬇⬇

What is a trial reel (TR)?

Answer: A trial reel is a reel Instagram shows primarily to non-followers — meaning it’s pushed to people who don’t already know you.

That’s right. By flicking the switch at the bottom of the page when creating a reel, Instagram will only show that reel to strangers. Aka: people who don’t follow you and haven’t watched your stuff before .

These reels won’t appear on your main profile feed. Only you will be able to see them together by going to reels, clicking Drafts and trial reels and then choosing trial reels.

Why are TRs important?

They expand your audience, bringing your content to new people every time.

Why should I use TRs as an author?

Let me say it differently: trial reels give your content a chance to breathe outside your current circle of followers.

As authors, we don’t need to go viral — we need to reach the right readers, new readers (especially if you only have one book). Trial reels let you test whether your hook resonates beyond your existing followers. They’re built-in market research. They help you grow a readership and a community, not just a following.

How do I make a Trial Reel?

Easy. Just make a reel like you always do.

It’s in the posting that is the REAL difference.

Here’s how I post trial reels that bring in views and followers:

When I make a reel, write the caption, pick the music, etc. I save it to drafts in Instagram and duplicate it. Now I have two of the exact same reel.
(When I make reels, I tend to batch them, so I am sure to duplicate every reel as I make them and save them to drafts to post later.)

2. After your reel is done, post one of the pair to trials. You can do this by flipping the switch and pressing the blue share button. Then you wait. A trial reel’s first 24 hours is

when you will get the bulk of your views and such. You won’t receive any in depth analytics until after 24 hours have passed. That is why it is best to wait 24 hours after posting a trial before…

3. …posting the other reel to your main feed.

(Since I batch reels, I post all my trial reels at once, so sometimes they are a week old by the time I post the other reel to my main feed. I recommend doing this if you batch too as it makes things easier for you)

Here’s what happened when I posted the trial reel and the main reel minutes apart:

0 views 😭

Here’s how many views this trial reel got when I posted it 24 hours before I posted to my main feed:

BUT…

There is a 2nd way too!!!

All you have to do is change the font.

Yup. Just change the font in your reel (if you have text in your reel, if not this won’t work). Instagram detects duplicate content. By changing the font slightly it makes the file technically “different,” preventing suppression.

Say you’ve posted both reels at the same time in the past and your TR got 0 views or you want to post at the same time for whatever reason. Take your TR and just change the font, then post at the same time.

Here’s my trial reel after changing the font when the first version got 0 views: